Editor’s Note: Some time ago, a friend of Lester’s Army stumbled across what we now refer to as “The Handwritten Bible” at a garage sale. Oh, the things you can buy for ten dollars! The Handwritten Bible features verses from The Gospel According to Matthew that were painstakingly rewritten in beautiful English calligraphy. Problem was, none of us really knew much about the Bible (forgive me, Father, for I have sinned).
To make sense of it all, we enlisted the help of Christopher Neale. Born to a Jewish mother and an Anglican father, Chris grew up with a strong interest in religion. In line with this passion, he returned to school in is late forties, earning a bachelor’s degree in both literature and theology. Currently, he is pursuing his master’s degree in theology through distance education at the University of Wales, England.
In this piece for Lester’s Army, he discusses numerous aspects that concern the original Gospel According to Matthew and analyzes the rewritten version found in The Handwritten Bible. For those feeling extra Divine, the end of the article features a description of the mysterious “Q.” His words are as follows.
Introduction
The document offered for analysis has been meticulously copied from the 1769 edition of the 1611 Authorized Version of the King James Bible. The material before me consisted of seven photocopied pages of a calligraphic document titled “The Gospel According To St. Matthew.” A careful count of the handwritten document revealed that the average page holds 200-220 words.
To prevent any confusion, I will refer to the calligraphist of this document as the copyist. I will refer to the writer of the Gospel as the author, and will use “Matthew” and “The Gospel of Matthew” interchangeably. Without any knowledge of the copyist, I acknowledge that any judgment I offer of his education, rationale, motive, or theology is purely speculative.
Matthew is a narrative about Jesus written in a style that can be best referred to as Greco-Roman biography; a collection of stories that portray Jesus as a powerful, living person. In addition, Matthew appears to be aiming towards a community that was becoming more and more Gentile, but which had strong Jewish roots. The majority view of scholars holds that most of the material particular to Matthew is probably drawn from Palestinian traditions directly. Thus Antioch, Syria may be a likely place where it was written, as the ancient city was noted for both its strong Jewish influence and it’s centrality to Christian life in the Levant.
The Authorship of Matthew
The discussion of who wrote Matthew can be traced far back in to history. In 130 CE, for example, a bishop named Papias from Hierapolis claimed that there was a Semitic original from which the canonical Matthew was translated into Greek. Origins aside, the majority of scholars date the Matthew we know of today to the period 70-100 CE. Alternatively, a significant number of conservative scholars argue for a pre-70 CE dating.
While this is possible, there are weighty arguments against a pre-70 CE dating. For instance, Matthew refers to the destruction of Jerusalem by Roman armies. By virtually all accounts, this took place in 70 CE. Thus, a pre-70 CE dating is unlikely. The controversies with the Pharisees mentioned in Matthew, and the condemnation of the free use of the title “Rabbi” also fits well into the atmosphere of the early rabbinic period, which occurred after 70 CE.
As for who actually wrote Matthew, the debate is far ranging and contentious. Some scholars, in contradiction to Papias, contend that Matthew was composed originally in Greek. But dismissing the various other speculative suggestions, I will instead focus on whether the author of Matthew was Jewish or not. There are at least two strong indicators that provide evidence that the author was Jewish. At the very least, he was exceptionally well versed in Judaic teachings.
First, the author insists throughout the narratives that Jesus continued to adhere to traditional forms of Jewish piety. Secondly, the author went out of his way to affirm that Jesus did not annul the ancient Law of Moses. He argued instead that Jesus fulfilled the Law. More importantly, he insists that all of Jesus’ followers, both Jews and Gentiles, must do so as well. The question becomes then, would non-Jews be this interested in seeing Jesus as a thoroughly Jewish teacher intent on keeping the Law? Probably not, which allows current scholarship to conclude the author was a Jew or Jewish-Christian (common at the time).
The author is clearly very concerned with proving that Jesus is the successor to the House of Israel discussed in the Old Testament (OT). He extensively reasserts that Christ fulfills the old Covenant, and details many forms of Jewish observance. Furthermore, the author uses various Jewish literary techniques. The detailed geneaology of Jesus, for example, is representative of a Jewish form of numerology referred to as gematria.
Still, the author at times virulently attacks the Jewish leaders of his day. The problem for the author of Matthew is never the Jews or the Jewish religion per se; it is the Jewish authorities. The best way to explain the author’s extensive criticism of the Jewish authorities is to say that his own community continued to experience opposition from non-Christian Jews. This was especially true of influential scribes and rabbis of the local synagogue, who criticized Christians for abandoning Moses and the Law.
The Copyist
The copyist, for his/her part, is intent on omitting many parts of Matthew which deal with disputed historical details. Instead, the copyist describes Jesus’ narrative from a faith and spirituality angle. The lengthy genealogy of Jesus, mentioned above, is given a simple, condensed recap. Additionally, the copyist gives the actual Jesus birth narrative a short shrift, even excluding the verse with implicit reference to Mary’s virginity. The copyist also completely eliminates all of the narratives surrounding the Wise men and their discussions with King Herod. Lastly, the copyist leaves out any reference to Nazareth. This last omission is not surprising given that there are historicity issues surrounding the (lack of) existence of the town.
All the above exclusions form a pattern. It is reasonable to suggest that the copyist wanted to leave out any questionable material that would take away from the essentials of Jesus’ story. By emphasizing Jesus and his essence, as opposed to uncertain or superfluous detail, the copyist leaves the reader with the pertinent and important subtext. The copyist also demonstrates his concern for including the moral aspects of Jesus’ teachings. The core of these is found in the Beatitudes address. Known as the masterpiece of Jesus’ morality, the copyist recognized that the address is full of the sublimest moral teachings of all time. Its contents have impacted humanities moral evolution, and the ideologies of some of the greatest reformers in human history, such as Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King. It challenges us to reject modern cultural values, like power-seeking, celebrity, and material success.
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- An artistic page composed by the unknown author of the Handwritten Bible.
The “Q” Source
Q refers to a hypothetical literary source used by the authors of Matthew and the Gospel According to Luke. By comparing passages in the two texts, biblical scholars came to the conclusion that a sizeable portion of the material in both Gospels came from the same original. Nonetheless, the theorized Q is a document for which no known copy exists. It comes from the German word quelle, meaning “source.” The basic presupposition is that Q was produced in a single community by an individual having heard sayings and parables attributed to Jesus. Despite the best scholarly efforts to reconstruct the community in which Q was written (most likely it was in Palestine or Syria), there is no direct access to it. Still, it remains a persuasive and accepted working hypothesis. And in the material presented for examination, there are at least 10-12 identifiable verses that can be considered to derive from the potential Q source.
